RAÝMAN Children’s Balogh Books HOFFSTÄDTER from Matus ČECHOVÁ BLAŽKOVÁ Matlovičová CENTRE FOR INFORMATION 2021 ON LITERATURE ŠUKOLOVÁ RANKOV Dono MAJLING Gľaba SALMELA Matlovičová VADAS Olejníková GÄRTNER Matus SLOVAKIA 2 3 Pussycats Fly to Canada AN ENTERTAINING STORY FEATURING TWO PUSSYCATS, MISSIE AND LIZZIE, WHO SET OUT TO VISIT THEIR AUNT JOSEPHINE IN CANADA. One day two pussycats, Missie and Lizzie, receive a letter from Aunt Josephine inviting them for a visit in Canada. Not any old visit, but a visit by air! They will be famous globe-trotting pussycats! Packing for the big journey, they cram everything they can find into their suitcase. The pussycats are worried of having to travel in cargo, in a cage with a big and a small dog, a green owl and an untamed Slovak chamois. But they scrub up well, with black gloves and all, and manage to slip past airport staff into the main cabin. Want to know what awaits them in Canada? You’ll find out after landing. This playful and amusing story by the grand dame of modern Slovak fairytale is complemented by witty illustrations. 4 JAROSLAVA blažkOVÁ Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-kniznyMartina blok-print.indd 4 Matlovičová25/06/2020 16:35 4 5 ‘Hurrah, we’re going on an expedition!’ Missie exclaimed happily. Selected Awards – Jaroslava JAROSLAVA BLAŽKOVÁ ‘Yay, we’ll be famous explo... explo... explosions – I mean, explorers,’ ... Blažková 1933 – 2017 said Lizzie, jumping for joy. ‘We’ll see all the wonders of the world’ • 1964 H. Ch. Awards – IBBY Despite living most of her life in exile in Canada, Blažková ‘We’ll meet all the wonderful tomcats!’ Honour List continues to be regarded as one Slovakia’s most important ‘We’ll be millionaires!’ • 2006 Anasoft Litera Prize – 20th century writers. In 1956 she was dismissed from the ‘Yes, indeed!’ Readers‘ Award editorial staff of Smena newspaper for political reasons ‘Canada is chock-full of millionaires.’ and banned from publishing her work. The ban was lifted Everyone knows that. SelectedPrincezka Awards – Martina a Lízička sa nawith všetko the arrival dívali of Oa politicalO O veľkýmithaw in 1958 očami, and she pretože was ‘What kind of millionaires?’ asked Lizzie. Matlovičová one of the most distinctive contributors to Mladá Tvorba ‘The kind that has a million shoes for their right foot. Millionaires to všetko okolo bolo slávne(Young mesto Writing), Toronto a magazine v Kanade. which from the late 1950s pro- who have a million shoes for their left foot. And millionaires • 2009 Bratislava Biennial of vided a platform for a young generation of writers. In 1968, who have a million bowls of whipped cream.’ Illustration – The Golden Apple following the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, she A million cream rolls. • White KeďRaven napokon2014 zastali pri tetinomemigrated domčeku, to Canada, bolsettling akurát in Toronto čas sadať with her k večeri. family. A million golden cuckoo clocks. – Musíte byť vyhladnutéHer po works takej were dlhej blacklisted ceste, – again povedala and were teta not Jozefína. published That’s what it’s like in Canada, everyone knows that. in Slovakia until after 1989. Her books for children, full of – Ó nie. My sme jedli v lietadle. ‘Is that really true? Goodness, we’ll be world-famous Selected Translations: humour and imagination and written in a lively children’s globetrotting pussycats. Yippee!’ – Čo tam v lietadle. To letílanguage, tak rýchlo, have remained že sa všetko popular okolo with new len generations mihne of And they started packing straight away. Ako si mačkya žalúdok kúpili televízor ostane prázdny.readers. A hlavne, Her storytelling nie je to skilfullydomáca combines strava. the poetic with They took out their little suitcases. Missie, the one with pink eyes, took out (Pussycats Buy a TV Set) the educational, while making use of a wide range of litera- a pink-and-blue suitcase. And Lizzie, the one with blue eyes, took out a blue- Môj skvelýJa som brat Robinzon vám, neterinky mojery devices zlaté, known navarila from niečodetective také, or adventurečo ste ešte fiction. and-pink suitcase, to make sure they didn’t mix them up. Here’s what went (My Brilliantani nevideli, Brother Robinson) ani nejedli. into each suitcase: czech A bar of soap. Stôl bol prestretý a teta začala nosiť: A single sock. Jahniatko a grandi (A Lambkin A length of rope and the Grandees) limonádu so slamkou And an alarm clock. bulgarian, czech ‘Have we got everything?’ Missie asked. kurča s plnkou ‘Have we got all we need?’ Lizzie asked. žĺtkové venčeky s krémom ‘I know what we’ll do! I have an idea,’ said Missie, jumping up. ‘Let’s go around the room and have a good look. Anything important that we víno s ľadovými kockami see, we’ll pack.’ kávu so smotanou, And off they went: The pussycats jumped around the room skippety-hop. The pussycats hopped around the room skippety-bop. Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-kniznya to všetko blok-print.indds tvárou 2 celou uveličenou. 25/06/2020 16:34 ‘I’ve got it!’ shouted Lizzie. ‘The sofa! Our sofa! It’s really important. What if we suddenly... got tired while travelling and needed a nap and... and... we 36 MARTINA MATLOVIČOVÁ had no sofa?’ 5 + 1975 ‘Oh, come on, Lizzie, we can’t put the sofa into our suitcase!’Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-knizny blok-print.indd 2 25/06/2020 16:34 ‘Why not?’ She studied animation but concentrates mostly on book illus- ‘Because it’s screwed to the floor.’ Pussycats Fly to Canada tration. The colours in her work are always bright, deep and Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-knizny blok-print.indd 36 25/06/2020 16:42 ‘Oh dear, too bad!’ Published by: Buvik, Bratislava dominant and reflect the artist’s humour, emotion, intelligen- ‘Let’s keep on looking.’ 2020, 48 p. ce and creative inventiveness as well as her courage to break ISBN: 978-80-8124-113-0 certain strict conventions. In 2009 she won the Golden Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-knizny blok-print.indd 2 25/06/2020 16:34 Apple award at the Bratislava Biennial of Illustration for her Translation Rights: illustrations of the Slovak translation of Tracy’s Tiger (publis- ... [email protected] hed in 2009) and Drevený tato (Wooden Daddy) (2007). Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-knizny blok-print.indd 2 25/06/2020 16:34 Buvik_Blazkova-MACKY-220x220mm-knizny blok-print.indd 37 25/06/2020 16:42 6 7 Frankie from the Compost Pile WE ALL HAVE OUR PLACE ON THIS EARTH, EVEN THOUGH WE MAY SOMETIMES FEEL AS INSIGNIFICANT AS A SMALL AND SEEMINGLY USELESS EARTHWORM. In a compost pile at the end of a garden, under the eggshells and apple peel, lives a small creature – Frankie the earthworm. And although he is by nature a cheerful fellow, it bothers him that unlike his friends from the garden, he cannot do anything useful – the ant builds houses, the spider makes webs, and the bee pollinates flowers. But František, who only digs small tunnels in the ground all day long, feels useless. Is he really, though? In addition to a story that carries a strong ecological message, Simona Čechová’s new illustrated book also provides instructions for making your own compost pile. SIMONA čechoVÁ 9 Selected Awards – Simona SIMONA ČECHOVÁ Frankie was a happy earthworm, but there Čechová: 1988 František je veselá dážďovka, no jedna vec ... was one thing bothering him. All of his friends ho predsa trápi. Všetci jeho kamaráti sú were good at something, they shined at v niečom dobrí, v niečom vynikajú, len on • 2020 Slovak Design Award: Simona Čechová is a freelance illustrator based in Trnava, something,ešte nevie, čo but ho baví. he still Cíti hadsa nepotrebný. no idea what he liked to do. He felt useless. Honorable Mention for Exquisite Slovakia. She studied advertising design at the University Illustrations in Communication of Bedfordshire in England (2010) and international marke- Design ting at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland (2011). She’s • 2020 Best Children‘s Book of the a member of ASIL – the Slovak Illustrators Association. Year (The Library for Children When she is not drawing, you can find her beekeeping, and Young Adults Košice) hiking, exploring cities, or finding beauty in ordinary things. • 2020 Books of the Year (Martinus) Selected Translations: Včelár Jožko (Joey the Beekeeper) 2.František Čo je to kompost? z kompostu (Frankie Steve played the penny whistle, and all of from the Compost Pile) Dážďovkám, chrobáčikom a maličkým organizmom, ktoré nevidíme, veľmi chutia naše Štefan hrá na píšťalke a jeho hudbu chodia the inhabitants of nearby gardens came to zvyškyczech, zeleniny hungarian, a ovocia, ktoré premieňajú na prírodné hnojivo — kompost. Kompost počúvať všetci obyvatelia okolitých záhrad. listen to his music. He was going to be a mu- jekorean, zároveň ich domovom.italian, A ako french, ho vytvoríme? Stačí, ak si na konci záhrady nájdeme Raz bude z neho hudobník. sician one day. vhodnésimplified miesto, kam chinese budeme ukladať naše zvyšky z kuchyne a zo záhrady, a o ostatné sa postarajú malí pomocníci. 1. fáza Naši pomocníci sa púšťajú do jedenia zvyškov. 2. fáza Kompost začína hnednúť, už nevieme rozoznať pôvodné zvyšky zeleniny a ovocia. 3. fáza 3. 3.Čo Čo patrí patrí a čo a čo nepatrí nepatrí do do kompostéra? kompostéra? Po 6 mesiacoch máme zrelý kompost, ktorý krásne vonia DážďovkyDážďovky a ich a ich kamaráti kamaráti však však nepapajú nepapajú všetko. všetko. Na Na to, to,aby aby sa savytvoril vytvoril dobrý dobrý a voňavý a voňavý ako lesná pôda po daždi. kompost,kompost, musíme musíme vedieť, vedieť, čo čodo dokompostu kompostu môžeme môžeme pridávať. pridávať. Do Do kompostéra kompostéra patria: patria: 3 + 3. Čo patrí a čo nepatrí do kompostéra? What does and doesn’t belong in the composter? Dážďovky a ich kamaráti však nepapajú všetko.